The REAL reason why Track and Field isn't more popular...

Because the breakaway group always wins, and we don't have pelotons. There's no drama.

Just READING about a stage in a very minor cycling race in New Mexico this week was more exciting than running races. Floyd Landis in the breakaway, and Lance Armstrong doing much of the work attempting to reel them in and protect Levi Leipheimer's overall lead. Much more dramatic than a running race. Race strategy and tactics make races interesting to watch.

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But they didn't have TV in them days. Folks would turn out in the tens of thousands to watch any kind of sport.

You do realize that when professional athletes are said to have the "flu" or "food poisoning" it really means that they have a HANGOVER from the night before or having a tough time recovering from a drug benge.

Newsflash: the US doesn't care how it does against foreign nations. There's no urgency to defeat the Iranian soccer team or the North Korean baseball team. Where's the outrage and shame when the US, the presumed meccas of baseball and basketball, lose the World Baseball Classic and the World Basketball Championships? Fans in the US are more concerned about those distractions injuring players for the regular season.

formerly present wrote:

Some good reasons have been given. Another: general lack of a "team" (aka "us against them") aspect, with the demise of dual meets between countries and the frequency (within colleges, and even sometimes in high school now) of non-scoring "competitions" that, to the casual sports fan, seem to have nothing at stake.

following a sport if like reading a book. each meet or game or match is a chapter in that book.

without teams, there is very little drama (rivalries) to follow from chapter to chapter.

there is (almost) NO suspense in a track meet. except perhaps the field events, but no one can understand what the hell is going on in those anyway.

there is (almost) NO strategy on the game day of a track meet. people love to work through strategy as they watch a sporting event (this is what makes baseball and football to great)

in summary:

little drama

little suspense

little strategy

= boring sport to watch.

**the real question: why do we keep on complaining about this. if no one wants to watch us race, WHO CARES. let it be.

hesse

Chico Suave wrote:

Neither are other sports inherently interesting either. Watching people throw a ball through a hoop isn't interesting...but watching people who are GOOD at throwing a ball through a hoop is very interesting.

....Pretty pussy moves if you ask me.

1) Good thing nobody asked you.

2) I'm pretty sure that Haile dropping a 2:03:59 marathon or Bekele blowing away the field is A LOT less interesting for someone in the non-running community to watch in comparison to LeBron slam dunking over people and making them look foolish.

You're naive if you think otherwise

on the runs wrote:

Newsflash: the US doesn't care how it does against foreign nations.

[/quote]

That's true up to a point. Back when there was the USSR the Olympics were very popular because every event where we squared off was scene as a verification of OUR system vs THEIR system, freedom vs totalitarianism, free market vs communist, etc..

If I were King of USAT&F before I worried about our success on the international level I would do everything I could to develop the talent and competition within our borders.

I'd have regional teams (sponsored by X company) that could compete vs each other in duel meets. Example Nike South vs Addidas North, Exxon West vs Shell NE, etc.. These teams would have to be made up of US born runners, no imports like we have in college today. (Again my league I make the rules.)

I'd pay ESPN to televise the events. Also, I'd pair down the number of events to make it more TV friendly.

I'd race more races at conventionl distances. So while that's anathema to track purists, it means I'd have races like the 1 Mile Run and/or the 3 Mile Run. (Remember we're trying to attrack US tv viewers, not just track people.)

Once we developed a strong base here, then we could try to start worrying about competing vs the rest of the world.

joe the janitor wrote:

hesse wrote:

**the real question: why do we keep on complaining about this. if no one wants to watch us race, WHO CARES. let it be.

hesse

Thank you. My point exactly. Learn to enjoy track for what it is and stop losing sleep over the fact that Joe Six Pack doesn't care about it.

Because when nobody cares about the funding goes bye bye.

You guys are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy too short sighted.

I think that anyone who has faith in track and field becoming real popular is dreaming. The way to look at it is not to PROMOTE the hell out of it... it must be REVOLUTIONIZED.

Right now, it is so poorly designed, for it is really many sports in one...

1) jumps

2) throws

3) sprints

4) distance

MOST of those people in one of those groups hardly cares to watch the other compete.

for example, as distance runner, I dont know what 5.50 meters even translates to in polevault - and they never tell me what it is in feet... there is never a leaderboard out on the field... it is tough to follow.

Secondly, we need to realize the strengths and weaknesses of trying to promote co-ed meets... what other major sport is co-ed? (most sport fans are men and most men want to watch men play sports)

when i think of it, i just dont see it happening for track and field. it is a NICHE sport.

CROSS COUNTRY on the other hand - that sport has a team aspect, clear goals, and is only one event. Perhaps we bring back the streams and fences to jump over... better than track but still a long way to go...

[Now explain why I, as a local recreational runner, should care about "funding".

I still think this amounts to a bunch of attention starved runners screaming, "Someone, anyone, please PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!!!!!!!!!"[/quote]

I guess you have a point. Why care that all of our collegiate and posti collegiate programs disappear.

Its not about "look at me" it's about the futher development of our sport.

And the funding is important to foreigners too... where do many of these guys go to college? The USA... lots of kenyan, irish, south africans come to the us and get scholarship money to run. if the sport disappears so does their money.

khartoum...khartoum...AAAAAAIE wrote:

it's because the culture is saturated with an "extreme" mindset: cage fighting, shoot-em-up video games, even gordon ramsey....

if it ain't in your face, it doesn't sell...sadly.

________________________________________________

AGREED. The MMA is gettign bigger and high school and college wrestling are getting smaller. This country has way too many people who love violence. Many people I know only know how to deal with adversity in two ways: Yelling or hitting.

Track is much bigger in Europe.

What are you talking about?

You think this isn't tough:

http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/wp/?page_id=256

Getting spiked in the face and getting back up to get your team to 3rd at Penn Relays?

There are plenty of tough runners. One is PattiSue Plumer, probably the toughest runner male or female to lace up a pair of spikes. Got bitten by a dog right before a huge race and still ran.

Americans have short attention spans and the coverage is terrible. Too many bleeding heart stories, not enough PR lists and descriptions of the race and tactics. Flotrack has much better coverage than NBC, and that is a real problem.

There is almost no support system in the US for runners outside of school competition. Top 3 get prize money in occasional races. Top 10 in a Big Time race (Boston Marathon, Chicago, etc), but you\'ll never get to that level if you can\'t win the little race. If you can\'t win races, you won\'t make money.

Cycling on the other hand has prize money in even a podunk race. Minor League Baseball and Soccer players make money. A minor league T&F athlete? Doesn\'t exist.

A good race is a good race, whether it is a World Record or tow HS kids running a 4:30 mile, but it just is not readily available for viewing. If it is available the coverage focuses on something besides the race as if the story of Timmy\'s broken toe last summer really has any bearing on the finish line. The race is its own drama, not need to turn it into a reality show. Until the networks realize that, they are dooming T&F to a sideshow with as much public respect as \"The Cougar\".

One more thing: I agree with "Just another runner girl" that T&F is so much closer to the limits of human performance that there is no point in even competing if you are not 100%. The difference between 1st and 10th in a world class race is in the neighborhood of 2%. You don't even bother to start if you know you are at 95% because of the flu or recovering from an injury. This is especially true in the Marathon where you only get 2 serious chances per year at best.

And if the prize money and contracts dictate that you win, dodging the competition is inevitable.

Because the biggest stars only compete for 10 seconds.

Meet promoters pay through the nose to get the big stars to come and run. Then these guys only are actually competing for 10 seconds. Then, the average american, who knows very little about track, has to sit through 3 hours other stuff...skinny guys running around and around. Or, even worse, they sit through multiple heats of the 200 at the end of the meet with only 4 guys in each heat because so many people have decided to scratch by that point.

The Modesto Relays used to be a great meet. 35 world records were set there. I went to one of the last incarnations of the meet and was bored out of my mind. The city and the sponsors and the local paper threw everything they had into promoting the meet and less than 3000 people paid to attend. Most of those 3000 were never in the stadium at one time because there was a whole "street fair" thing going on to lure people to the meet.

The real problem is that most meets are meaningless. John Q. Public doesn't care about somebodies attempt to meet an "a" standard. John Q. Public cares if his team wins or not. The day that I went to the Modesto Relays I later went to a Modesto Nuts baseball game (high A division). There were 4,300 people in attendance.

Actually let me correct myself, I chose not to go to the Modesto relays the year that I went to the Nuts game because I had been bored out of my mind when I attended the realys the year before.

For my money, the best track meet is the California High School Finals (and I have been to 2 olympic trials, many collegiate meets, and several other "professional" track meets). Every race, throw or jump means something. the meet draws 10,000-15,000 spectators every year. The fans sit in the stands and are entertained. The events move along at a quick pace. there is only 1 heat of every event (well, one for boys and one for girls). All the races are full. John Q. Public gets to see a bunch of great competition and goes home after 3 hours knowing he has gotten his money's worth.

Yes, violence is the reason T&F isn't popular. C'mon!

Yes, track is much bigger in Europe. So is soccer. I cant talk for everyone else here, but the only reason I watch soccer is for the violence. I just cant get enough of it. Ridiculous!

Its pretty simple why T&F isnt popular. It's just not that exciting. I love track but I would watch Lebron and D-Wade over Ryan Hall any day. Besides the die hards I think thats pretty universal. Football, basketball, MMA, ( I won't say MLB even though I do watch it) just have better pure ATHLETES. No they can't run a mile under 4, but who cares? Not the average American. Unless widespread betting is allowed (just like every other sport) T&F just wont be popular. Why not give an incentive to watch?

The Cold War is over. There is no rival for the USA. The closest instance in memory was the USA v China game in Beijing but I still doubt that would have gotten as much play as the Celtics/Lakers series.

Well those people who are saying that the reason track does not get much love is because the sport is inherently boring are yet to explain why Nascar or swimming seem to be gaining more traction than T&F. The sport will never be bigger than a team sport like basketball, soccer or football but why does Nascar get more love??!!! Come on. How many times can you watch the same car go round and round a track. People turn out in droves to watch that and you are telling me that this is more stimulating than watching athletes compete against each other. No way - track has a marketing problem. The sport is too reliant on the Olympics for its 15 seconds of fame. How many people can name two annual international track meets. I bet not many. Tennis for instance has Wimbledon, French open and the other slams - it does not need the Olympics to get on the front page. What does track have annually - where the best go up against each other ? The IAAF needs to do more to organize annual meets where the big names show up and compete. When that happens big media will pay for the TV rights and John Public will tune in. I hear talk about a Diamond League in 2010 where the IAAF will arrange for contractual appearances by top athletes at Diamond League sponsored meets. That if it happens will be an important start.